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Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene Polymorphisms Interact with Maternal Parenting in Association with Adolescent Reactive Aggression but not Proactive Aggression: Evidence of Differential Susceptibility

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Abstract

To date, whether and how gene-environment (G × E) interactions operate differently across distinct subtypes of aggression remains untested. More recently, in contrast with the diathesis-stress hypothesis, an alternative hypothesis of differential susceptibility proposes that individuals could be differentially susceptible to environments depending on their genotypes in a “for better and for worse” manner. The current study examined interactions between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) T941G and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphisms with maternal parenting on two types of aggression: reactive and proactive. Moreover, whether these potential G × E interactions would be consistent with the diathesis-stress versus the differential susceptibility hypothesis was tested. Within the sample of 1399 Chinese Han adolescents (47.2 % girls, M age  = 12.32 years, SD = 0.50), MAOA and COMT genes both interacted with positive parenting in their associations with reactive but not proactive aggression. Adolescents with T alleles/TT homozygotes of MAOA gene or Met alleles of COMT gene exhibited more reactive aggression when exposed to low positive parenting, but less reactive aggression when exposed to high positive parenting. These findings provide the first evidence for distinct G × E interaction effects on reactive versus proactive aggression and lend further support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271105), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20133704110001) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2014CQ030).

Author Contributions

WZ conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination and drafted the manuscript; CC participated in its design, performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; MW participated in the design and helped to draft the manuscript; LJ helped to draft the manuscript; YC helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, No. 88 East Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250014, Shandong Province, China

    Wenxin Zhang, Cong Cao, Meiping Wang, Linqin Ji & Yanmiao Cao

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  1. Wenxin Zhang
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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the ethics committee on human experimentation of Shandong Normal University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed assent (adolescents) and consent (mothers, teachers and school principals) were obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Figs. 3, 4, 5.

Table 4 Results for re-parameterized regression models examining T941G × negative parenting interactions on reactive aggression
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Table 5 Results for re-parameterized regression models examining T941G × positive parenting interactions on proactive aggression
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Table 6 Results for re-parameterized regression models examining T941G × negative parenting interactions on proactive aggression
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Table 7 Results for re-parameterized regression models examining Val158Met × negative parenting interactions on reactive aggression
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Table 8 Results for re-parameterized regression models examining Val158Met × parenting interactions on proactive aggression
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Table 9 Cross validation results for re-parameterized regression models examining Val158Met × positive parenting interactions on reactive aggression
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Table 10 Cross validation results for re-parameterized regressions examining T941G × positive parenting interactions on reactive aggression among girls
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Table 11 Cross validation results for re-parameterized regressions examining T941G × positive parenting interactions on reactive aggression among boys
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Zhang, W., Cao, C., Wang, M. et al. Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene Polymorphisms Interact with Maternal Parenting in Association with Adolescent Reactive Aggression but not Proactive Aggression: Evidence of Differential Susceptibility. J Youth Adolescence 45, 812–829 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0442-1

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